most of the advice here is "safe" advice based soley on finances. has anyone stopped to think maybe he doesn't like his current job and the long hours and travel? there's more to work than money. money is what people care about when they don't have it; when you have it, you realize other things are equally important. i would suggest reducing your hours and trading p/t, or take a leave of absence. you may fall in love with it and never go back, as i did. or you may find it's not for you. i gave up a high-paying, stable job to do this and don't regret it one iota.
Those pictures from Swift trade do not do the place any justice. That guy in the blue shirt looks like he could have been an IBM engineer from the 70s. Those other two guys are dressed like used car salesmen. All these guys need to get out to the gym, head out to the track and then to the mall to buy some clothes.
Gratitude, Click the link below and scroll down to "If I were a Beginning Trader". http://www.brettsteenbarger.com/trader_performance.htm#If I Were a Beginning Trader Brett's site gives some great info. This may help in your decision making. Trader29
Gratitude, I am in about the same situations as you. I am successful at my job but worked too many hrs. I had it with corporate, for now. I feel like I am missing my kids growing up. I have been trading part-time, programmed some models, anlyzer, etc as part of my learning. Althouh I do not have years of income saved up, I do have savings. At the end, I decided to quit my FT and take the challenge of trading full-time. It is exciting and painfully stressful at the same time, and I have not even started fulltime yet! It helps when you have your family supporting you to.... It is hard to jump out of a perfectly working plane. I do not know when if in death anyone cares what they did when alive, but I know it sucks knowing you did not try something when you are alive. I am finding it easier as I think about it as a buisness where risk management is the key. I keep studying and learning for my long (or short term) venture .... Do have a Plan-B just in case .... I hope this helps ... keep in though .. if you want you can PM me ....
You seem to think trading is as easy as reading a few books. 90% of traders do not succeed. However, you have enough money to do a few things that will increase your success. 1) Hire a trader to either manage your money and/or train you. 2) Find a good hedge fund and put a $ million into it and let them manage your money. 3) Realize that there is only so much you can make from low risk strategies. For example, I can easily make you $ 100,000 per year return on a $ 1 million account using very low risk strategies that would give you a 10% ROI, but if you are already making $ 1 million per year working, then you are making 10x with no risk.
I agree. To the original poster: if you had the drive and interest necessary to be a trader, you would already have quit your job years ago to start trading. The fact that you have stayed in your career 10 years+ already, suggests that your trading bug is not really that strong. This means you are almost certain to fail if you try to become a solo trader. Given that you already have a very promising financial & career situation, IMO you'd be nuts to quit. The first few years in trading are the most dangerous, it's best to be poor so if you blow out (which most traders do initially) it won't cost that much. With a house, wife, kids, and significant assets to lose if things go wrong, IMO the risk/reward on this is very much against quitting.
On the contrary, it is the most stressful thing I have ever dared to do ..... It has taken an incredible amount of time, simulation runs, model analysis, studying, etc .. to even decide to do it fulltime. I think is more like 95%. There has to be beginnig to any venture. For some of us is now ...
I want everyone here to GROW UP! First of all, most every wealthy man out there (to include successful millionaire traders) work long hours. However, most people who are successful also do not mind working long hours and truly enjoy their occupations. Dan Zanger (a gonzo example I know) works 60-80 hours a week analyzing charts, speaking at seminars and running his business. He takes one 3-week vacation per year (thats it!). However, Zanger loves what he does. Loves it! He states that everyday the market is open is his vacation. Paulson and many other Wall Street big shots work almost everyday long hours (not uncommon). Now if you are complaining about the long hours you are putting in then YOU DO NOT ENJOY YOUR JOB. YOU NEED TO FIND A NEW LINE OF WORK.
Agree. Take all that vacation time and divide it by 2 or 3 periods out of the year so if your 1st attempt at it won't be just luck or just very favorable market conditions. Then you will see just how awesome trading really is and decide from there.